) I have to come out of the wonderful sabbatical that I am currently in *sigh*. I have been having a wonderful time being on holidays... and before you think the worst of me, no, I haven't been asking my parents for money. The last job I had, well, it paid fairly well and I managed to save up quite a bit of money which is currently running out *frown*.
Anyways, I hit the job market with my resume about 2.5 weeks ago and well, I have had some pretty good responses. I sent out something like 20 resumes via e-mail. I randomly sent my resumes to companies that I think that I would like to work for. I selected companies which:
Let me give you a little background about how racist Malaysia really is. Bumiputeras are the aborigines of this country. They are the ones who get into the local universities, work in the government agencies etc. I am being really serious here. Look at any of the local universities (the non-private ones) and I can guarantee you that all of the students are Bumiputeras. You have to be an EXCEPTIONAL non-bumiputera student in order to get in and when I say EXCEPTIONAL, I mean EXCEPTIONAL. You have to have perfect grades since you were in kindergarten or something. Then, if you look at all the government agencies, 99% (no exaggeration) of the staff are Bumis, usually it is 100%. The government has this quota thingie on companies here ie. if you have to have a certain number of Bumis working for company. An all Bumi company gets favourable status. This is the way the government ensures that the Bumis in this country have a job. So what do the non-bumis do?? Well, firstly, they go overseas to study or they go to a local private university, which (by popular belief) the standard is a LOT higher than the local universities and they work for the private industry where the pay is a lot higher as well
I am digressing from my story here. Anyway, so I have been looking for a job and I have been offered a few thus far. Now Malaysia is NOT a place where privacy is a right and prejudice exists on a scale you would NOT believe. What can you expect from a country where the government is blatantly racist right? So, in job advertisements, the applicant has to submit a nonrefundable passport size photo of him or herself and they have to state their current and their expected salary. I have some MAJOR problems with this!!
Firstly, why on earth do they need a photo of you? One might argue that they are just interested in knowing what you look like so that if you get called in for an interview... But on the other hand, they might be looking for attractive people to fill the position (prejudice happening here) or if you are too attractive, they won't consider you for the position (particularly if you are female... the males in the company might get distracted or something). Where is the fairness in this?
Then, in the job advertisements, they don't mention the salary offered, unless it is for a high-ranking position and the job pays in the six-figure mark. What they do is, they want to know your current salary and then your expected salary. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't this a breach of your personal privacy? I mean, I don't go around telling everyone what I make and I don't expect people to ask. The job I am applying for may require more responsibilities and stuff so therefore my current salary should not be a guide for the salary they are offering right? Plus, once they look at your current salary and regardless of what your qualifications are, they decide if they can / cannot afford you.
Well, I got called in to one company (which shall remain nameless) for an interview. Now, I didn't apply to this company... they heard about me through a headhunting agency and were interested in meeting up with me. They expected me to drop everything and meet up with them the next day... well, I was curious as to what they had to offer so despite the peak hour traffic, I went down. Well, they handed me this job application form and let me be for a while. The form was 6 pages in length and it required that I fill out every single field. I didn't have a problem with some of the questions but a few of them, well, I had MAJOR problems with. The list below are a few examples:
Needless to say, I didn't submit the application. When the interviewer came, we had a nice talk and I voiced out my concerns and I gave him all the information that he needed to know (I have a job application package which consists of my resume and relevant documents). I told him that I wasn't going to submit or sign the application form as it was a breach of my personal privacy. Going down there was a complete waste of my time and I don't think that I am going to get the job... not to say that I want it anyways... the company was too stuffy for my liking, even though the interviewer and I did get along VERY well.
One of the general attitudes in this country is that one has to kiss some MAJOR butt in order to get a job here, something which I WILL NOT DO. It isn't the right of the individual to work. The general attitude here is that IF you are lucky, a company will deem you good enough to offer you a job. I am not making myself very clear here. Let me try this again... it isn't your right to work for a living... it is the right of the company to offer you employment if they think that you are good enough. I really don't know how to explain this one. What companies here don't understand is that people are a resource they desperately need. Without people, a company doesn't exist but they don't seem to grasp the concept. Unless you hold a really high ranking position (or you are from another country... people here like foreigners and treat them like they are royalty or something) you have no rights. That is why there aren't very many unions in this country or the unions aren't very strong. People are afraid of losing their jobs if they voice out their concerns on unfair treatment. Employers don't care how they treat you... that is a fact, but don't get me wrong, I don't mean ALL employers... just a majority of them. And I thought that tyranny was a thing of the past... oh well.
Anyway, I have yet to accept an offer... I am taking my time in deciding where I want to work. I definitely do NOT want to work for a local company (if I can help it). I find that multinationals are the best seeing that the work culture is a little different when compared to the local ones. I am pretty lucky in that I have the qualifications to command a good job... wish me luck!
1. had an e-mail address (after all, I am in the Information Technology department and if the company doesn't have an e-mail address, what kind of company is it anyway??) and
2. in the job advertisements, the company didn't specify "Bumiputeras are encouraged to apply".
. A majority of the success stories in this country are non-bumi people or if they are bumis, it is almost guaranteed that the government had some say in the matter (this of course, is a generalisation). I am sure you are familiar with the "Knighthood" status that the Queen of Britain gives out to worthy individuals right? Well, we have the same here... the "Datuk" title is given out by the government to worthy individuals... however, if you look at the number of "Datuks" in this country, not very many are non-bumi people.
Now, you have to remember that this is all BEFORE they offered me a job. If I have accepted the job, I wouldn't have minded giving them all the information but definitely not before. I mean, why on earth did they need my passport number... and the details of my family... were they hiring me or my family right?
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